Siren equipped roller skate



1936- J. w. K. HEPPNER I I SIREN EQUIPPED ROLLER SKATE Filed Feb. 7, 1954 r 2 Sheets- Sheet 1v INVENTOR John W KHeppner BY Au 11, 1936. J. w. K. HEPPNER SIREN EQUIPPED ROLLER SKATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 7, 1934 INVENTOR John K; Hep oner ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 11, 1936 SIREN EQUIPPED ROLLER SKATE Application February 7, 1934, Serial No. 710,122

17 Claims.

This invention relates to roller skates, and more particularly to alarm mechanism therefor.

The primary object of the present invention is to increase the play value and improve the safety of roller skates, particularly when used under crowded city conditions. This object is fulfilled, generally, by the provision of alarm mechanism mounted on the skate and driven in response to movement of the skate. A further object is to provide appropriate mechanism making sounding of the alarm optional to the skater in a convenient manner. Other objects center about the specific use of a siren for the alarm, and the provision of appropriate mechanism for driving the same at high speed.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the alarm or siren equipped roller skate and the elements thereof and their relation one to another as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a skate embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken in the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is generally similar but modified as to the control mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modification in which the siren mechanism is located beneath the skate;

Fig. 5 is a section taken in the plane of the line 5-5 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a modification controlled through the agency of a lever;

Fig. 7 is a modification illustrating the obtention of driving impulse by direct engagement with the pavement instead of a skate wheel;

Fig. 8 is a section taken in the plane of the line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig.9 is a side elevation of a modification; and

Fig. 10 is a section in the plane of the line Ill-l0 of Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the roller skate may be of conventional type comprising a toe plate l2 and a heel plate I4 telescopically interconnected for adjustment of length, the adjustment being fixed by a lock nut 16. Toe plate l2 carries a front axle mounting l8 and ball bearing wheels 20. It further carries toe clamps 22 adjustable by means of a screw 24. The heel plate 14 carries a rear axle mounting 26 and ball bearing wheels plane of the 28. It is further provided with a flange 30 through which there is passed a heel strap which has been omitted from the drawings for the sake of clarity.

The alarm is here exemplified by a miniature 5 siren the casing 32 of which is mounted upon one side of a gear housing 34. Gear housing 34 carries drive rollers 36 spaced apart in alignment with the wheels 28 and disposed adjacent the same. The shaft 38 of rollers 36 is geared 10 to the siren rotor 40 by a step-up gear train including a gear 62 meshing with pinion 34 which in turn rotates gear 46 meshing with pinion 48 which is itself secured to the rotor shaft 50.

The gear housing 34 is oscillatably mounted on the skate. In the present case there is provided a relatively sturdy and rigid fitting 52 having a part 5 2 curled around the axle support of the skate. Gear housing 34 is pivotally secured to the fitting 52, as by the pin 53. The curvature of strap 5:3 is such as to limit or prevent movement of the fitting 52. The gear housing in Figs. 1 and 2 is shown in its lowermost position.

The alarm is controlled by an operating cord 56 which is tied to an eyelet 58 attached at the rear end of the gear frame 34. It will be manifest that the skater, by pulling cord 56, brings the driving rollers 36 into frictional engagement with the rear wheels 28, thereby actuating the siren.

The arrangement shown in Fig. 3 is similar to that already described except for the mechanism controlling the siren. In this form the operating cord is omitted and the gear housing 3 1 is instead provided with a fifth wheel or roller 60. It 5 will be understood that the skater simply tilts the skate backwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the reaction of roller 60 against the pavement forces the driving wheels 36 against the skate wheels 28, just as has already been described.

The modification shown in Fig. 4 differs primarily in mounting the siren equipment beneath instead of behind the skate. It also differs in taking the siren drive from a single skate wheel instead of from two skate wheels. The resulting arrangement is heater and more appealing to the eye.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, the skate may be of the type already described. The gear housing 62 is secured to the skate by means of a fitting 64 mounted upon a rod 66 which passes through the rear axle support 68. The rod or pin 66 may be made detachable by the use of a cotter pin l0, thereby facilitating attachment or removal of the siren 7 equipment. The siren casing 12 is preferably mounted on the inner side of gear housing 62, thus bringing the: same beneath the skate. With the gear housing located in the manner shown in Fig. 5, the drive wheel 14 is preferably mounted within the gear housing rather than outside of the same. The gear train may be similar to that already described. The single drive member if is, of course, in juxtaposition to one of the rear skate wheels.

To control the siren, a fifth wheel 16 is provided, this wheel being mounted in the bifurcated end E8 of an arm which runs forwardly beneath the skate axle to the gear housing 62 to which it is rigidly secured. It will be evident from inspection of Fig. 4, that upon tilting the skate rearwardly in the manner shown in connec-. tion with Fig. 3, the pressure of wheel I6 forces the driving wheel 14 into frictional'en gagement with the skate wheel, thereby sounding the alarm.

In Fig. 6 I disclose still another form of control mechanism. The skate and the siren attachment are similar to that described in connection with Figs. 4 and 5. The fifth wheel is omitted and the siren is instead controlled by an arm 89. The gear housing or frame 62 may be urged upwardly by a spring 82. Such a spring is desirable in this modification because the weight of control arm 80 is added to that of the siren attachment, thus tending to bring drive wheel 74 in engagement with the skate wheel. It willbe understood that in operation the skater bends downwardly while coasting and presses arm 80 downwardly, thus actuating the siren. This mode of operation is less convenient than those already described, but adds to the play value of the toy,v particularly in the case of boys who delight in feats requiring skill. By attaching the skate with the arm on the inside of the foot, it is also possible to operate this form of the invention by coasting on the said skate and pressing the arm 80 downwardly with the other skate.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I show another form of my invention which illustrates the feasibility of drivingthe siren directly from the pavement instead of from the skate wheels. Referring to the drawings, thegear housing has its side walls continued upwardly and then sidewardly, as indicated in Fig. 8, thereby forming an attachment plate 92 which underlies the skate and which may, if desired, be held in place by the lock nut IS. The gear housing 90. carries a siren 94 which is preferably disposed on the inside of the housing, and a relatively large drive wheel 96 which is preferably disposed on the outside of'the housing. The drive wheel and siren are interconnected by a step-upv gear train of conventional type. The drive wheel 96 is elevated appreciably from the pavement, as is manifest from inspection of Figs. 7 and 8. However, because of its disposition at one side of the skate it is readily possible to bring the driving wheel 96 into engagement with the pavement by tilting the skate sidewardly. The complete accessory may be mounted on either the left or right skate, and on either the inside or outside of the skate, as desired. This preference depends upon whether the skater prefers to tilt the skate outwardly or inwardly. One advantage of this form of the invention arises from the fact that if the skate is tilted too far, so that only the driving wheel 95 engages the pavement, the siren is nevertheless successfully operated, it being unnecessary for the skate wheel to touch the ground.

A modified siren attachment actuated from the pavement is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10.

In this case the gear housing I00 is attached to the skate by means of the conventional diagonal strut or brace I02 which extends from the rear wheel mounting I04 to the heel plate I06 of the skate. One corner of housing I60 is formed into a yoke I08 best shown in Fig. 10. This yoke is provided with a screw I II! threadedly received by the inner part of the yoke, so that it tends to clamp the jaws of the yoke together. The strut I62 is preferably provided with a slot H2 through which the screw H0 passes. To mount the attachment on the skate, it is simply necessary to push the yoke sidewardly over strut I02 and to thereupon tighten the screw I I0, the screw being accessiblethrough the space between the side walls of the rear wheel mounting IE4.

One advantage of the present mounting is the adjustability of the height of the drive wheel H4. This wheel is preferably rubber-tired and is therefore subject to wear. Such wear is readily compensated by shifting the housing I80 downwardly toward the pavement. The adjustment of the housing position is also of value in adapting the structure to the wishes of the skater, for one may prefer, a large'ground clearance, while another may wish to operate the siren with only slight tilting of the skate.

Housing IBB carries a siren H6 which is connected to the drive wheel H4 by an appropriate step-up gear train such as has already been described. I It will be understood that direct drive'from the pavement, as illustrated in Figs, '7 and 9, may also be employed when tilting the skate rearwardly as shown in Fig. 3, it being merely necessary to make the wheel'tfl a drive wheel instead of an idler. It is also possible to lower the drive wheel I4 in the arrangement of Fig. 6, so as to bring the same in contact with the ground instead of the skate wheel when lever 80 is urged downwardly.

It is believed that the mode of constructing an using, as well as the many advantages of my improved skate and the alarm mechanism provided therefor, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description thereof. It will also be apparent that whileI have shown and described my invention in preferred forms, many changes and modifications may be made in the structures disclosed, without departing from thespirit of the invention, defined in the following claims. For example, the siren may be driven from one of the wheels by a true gear connection instead of frictional drive, while the control of the alarm may be obtained by shifting the position of a single,

part of the gear train instead of the entire gear housing.

I claim:

1. In combination, a conventional roller skate including relatively longitudinally adjustable toe and heel plates each carrying 2. depending wheel hanger with freely rotatable skate wheels mounted therein, and each also having means thereon to detachably secure the skate to a shoe, a siren including a siren housing and rotor, a rotatable drive member, means interconnecting the drive member and rotor, said drive member being so mounted and disposed on the roller skate that it may be optionally moved by the skater into engagement with a surface moving relatively thereto in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren.

2. In combination, a roller skate, a siren including a siren housing and rotor, a rotatable drive member, step-up gearing interconnecting the drive member and rotor,'said drive member being so mounted and disposed on the roller skate that it may be optionally moved by the skater into frictional engagement with a surface moving relatively thereto in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren.

3. In combination, a roller skate, a gear housing mounted on the roller skate, a siren mounted on said gear housing, a drive train mounted on said gear housing including a rotatable drive member adapted to be rotated by engagement with a surface moving relatively thereto when the skate is in operation, and step-up gearing interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor in order to drive the latter, and means to so move at least a part of the drive train as to effect either sounding or silence of said siren, as desired.

4. In combination, a conventional roller skate including relatively longitudinally adjustable toe and heel plates each carrying a depending wheel hanger with freely rotatable skate wheels mounted therein, and each also having means thereon to detachably secure the skate to a shoe, a frame movably mounted on the roller skate, a siren mounted on said frame, a rotatable drive member mounted on said frame, means interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor, and means to so move the frame relative to the skate as to bring the drive member into engagement with a relatively moving surface in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren.

5. In combination, a roller skate, a gear housing movably mounted on the roller skate, a siren mounted on said gear housing, step-up gearing in said housing interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor, and means to so move the gear housing relative to the skate as to bring the drive member into engagement with a skate wheel in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren.

6. In combination, a roller skate, a gear housing oscillatably mounted on the roller skate, a siren mounted on said gear housing, a rotatable drive member mounted on said gear housing, step-up gearing in said housing interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor, and means to so move the gear housing relative to the skate as to bring the drive member into frictional engagement with a skate wheel in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren.

7. In combination, a conventional roller skate including relatively longitudinally adjustable toe and heel plates each carrying a depending wheel hanger with freely rotatable skate wheels mounted therein, and each also having means thereon to detachably secure the skate to a shoe, a frame movably mounted on the roller skate, a siren mounted on said frame, a rotatable drive member mounted on said frame, means interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor, and means to so move the frame relative to the skate as to bring the drive member into engagement with a relatively moving surface in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren, said means comprising a manually controllable element connected to the frame and extending upwardly for manipulation by the skater.

8. In combination, a roller skate, a gear housing oscillatably mounted on the roller skate, a siren mounted on said gear housing, a rotatable drive member mounted on said gear housing, step-up gearing in said housing interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor, and means to so oscillate the gear housing relative to the skate as to bring the drive member into frictional engagement'with askate whe'el in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren, said means comprising a manually controllable element connected to the gear housing and extending upwardly for-manipulation'by the skater. 5

9. In combination, a roller skate, a frame movably mounted on the roller skate, a siren mounted on said frame, a rotatable drive member mounted on said frame, means interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor, and means to so move f the frame relative to the skate as to bring the drive member into engagement with a relatively moving surface in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren, said means comprising a fifth wheel mounted in said frame and adapted to move the frame when forced against the ground by tilting the skate.

10. In combination, a-roller skate, a gear housing oscillatably mounted on the roller skate, a

siren mounted on said gear housing, a rotatable drive member mounted on'said gear housing, a step-up gearing in said housing interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor, and means to so move the gear housing relative to the skate as to bring the drive member into frictional engagement with a skate wheel in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren, said means comprising a fifth wheel rigidly secured to said gear housing and adapted to move the housing as aforesaid when forced against the ground by tilting the skate.

11. In combination, a conventional roller skate including relatively longitudinally adjustable toe and heel plates each carrying a depending wheel hanger with freely rotatable skate wheels mounted therein, and each also having means thereon to detachably secure the skate to the shoe, a frame movably mounted on the roller skate, a siren mounted on said frame, a rotatable drive member mounted on said frame, means interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor, and means to so move the frame relative to the skate as to bring the drive member into engagement with a relatively moving surface in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren, said means comprising an arm operatively connected to said frame and manipulable by the skater.

12. In combination, a roller skate, a gear housing oscillatably mounted on the roller skate, a siren mounted on said gear housing, a rotatable drive member mounted on said gear housing, stepup gearing in said housing interconnecting the drive member and the siren rotor, and means to so move the gear housing relative to the skate as to bring the drive member into frictional engagemen with a skate wheel in order to cause rotation of the drive member and siren, said means comprising an arm operatively connected to said gear housing and manipulable by the skater.

13. In combination, a roller skate including front and rear running wheels, a frame mounted thereon between the front and rear Wheels, a siren mounted on said frame, a drive wheel so mounted on said frame as to normally clear the pavement, 5 said drive wheel being disposed at one side of the skate, step-up gearing interconnecting the drive wheel and the siren rotor, said drive wheel being so positioned that it may, at the option of the skater, be brought into frictional engagement with 7 the pavement in order to rotate the siren, by tilting the skate sidewardly about the running wheels.

14. In combination, a roller skate, a gear housing mounted thereon, a siren mounted on said 75 gear housing, a drive wheel so, mounted on said gear housing as to normally clear the pavement, step-up gearing interconnecting the drive wheel and the siren rotor, said drive wheel being so positioned that it may, at the option of the skater, be brought into frictional engagement with the pavement in order to rotate the drive wheel and the siren.

15. In combination, a roller skate, a gear housing rigidly but detachably mounted therebeneath, a siren mounted on said gear housing, a drive wheel so mounted on said gear housing as to normally clear the pavement, step-up gearing interconnecting the drive wheel and the siren rotor, said drive wheel being so positioned that it may, at the option of the skater, be brought into frictional engagement with the pavement in order to rotate the drive wheel and the siren.

16. In combination, a roller skate, a gear housing, a siren mounted on said gear housing, a drive wheel so mounted on said gear housing as to normally clear the pavement, step-up gearing interconnecting the drive wheel and the siren rotor, andmeans detachably attaching the housing to the skate, said means further affording adjustment of the housing relative to the skate in order to vary the clearance of the drive wheel from the pavement, said drive wheel being positioned at one side of the skate'so that it may be brought into frictional engagement with the pavement by tilting the skate.

17. A siren attachment for conventional roller skates, said attachment comprising a gear housing, a siren mounted on said gear housing, a drive wheel mounted on said gear housing, step-up gearing interconnecting the drive wheel and the siren rotor, and means on said gear housing for detachably attaching the same to a conventional roller skate in such position that the drive wheel may, at the option of the skater, be brought into frictional engagement with the pavement.

JOHN W. K. HEPPNER. 

